The Lovestory of Jordan Grace and Draco Malfoy
by moosesweaters
Summary: Jordan Grace is returning to Hogwarts for her sixth year, hoping this year will be better than the last. But an unexpected sharp turn in her love life sends her spinning, and not in a good way. Breaking noses, hearts and probably at least one broomstick is right in the direction it's headed, and it's becoming a complete disaster zone. (Slight AU in which Cedric is alive).
1. Sugar Quills Are For Losers

My aunt swept me up into a hug, clearly stricken with emotion. She hated sending me, her only niece, off to school every year. I hugged her back, twirling my fingers into my aunt's curly, dark hair while telling her that she would be fine without me around the flat. Hogwarts was a safe place; she had nothing to worry about. Still, my aunt was telling me to be careful and that if I saw any suspicious characters to not hesitate to use some magic to protect myself. I laughed slightly at her suggestion. She always thought that magic was just to protect and fight people with, like wizards in books and movies did; although I had told her several times that it can be used for other things, like cleaning, she always went back to the book and movie wizards kind of magic.

My aunt finally released me from her iron grip, but her arms remained on my shoulders. She was getting teary-eyed, and I could see it already staring to happen; she was going to have a breakdown and start crying, like she did every year. She shoved a loose strand of hair behind my ear and squeezed my shoulders after her hand returned to its previous perch. She wasn't going to let go of my shoulders okay any time soon, and take as long as possible to stay with me until I left, which usually meant being the last person on the train. She didn't like having to send her sister's little girl off to school again. I grabbed her hands, pulling them off my shoulders and putting them in front of me.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I can come back for Christmas, if you want. And I'll try and write whenever I can." Seeing my aunt on the verge of tears almost made me want to cry. I didn't like leaving my aunt alone, but I had to go to school eventually every year. I gave my aunt a slightly lopsided grin. "I'll even bring back Kelly and Carrie for Christmas. You can bake them all the food you want, and I'll teach them how a telly works." This caused my aunt to smile, and tears began to run down her face. She raked the back of her hand across her face, gathering the loose tears.

"Yes, that'd be nice. Especially teaching them how the telly works. Just make sure it's okay with their parents. I'll have to make some room, but I'll be nice seeing them again. I haven't seen them since they were wee little ones." She wiped the back of her hand on her coat before her hand drifted to her coat pocket. She pulled a small box, roughly the size of one that you'd put a ring inside, and placed it in my hands. "It was your mother's. She'd want you to have it, and I thought now was a good time."

I carefully opened the box, and there was a tiny piece of cloth inside, covering the thing that my aunt was giving me. I pulled the cloth away, revealing a tiny golden locket. I gingerly opened it, and was greeted by the faces of my mother and father on one side, looking happy and lively as ever. The other side held a baby picture of me, grabbing her feet and giggling. The moving pictures made me both happy and sad; happy to see my mum and dad again, sad that they were gone, and she couldn't do anything to get them back. Her mother had been a muggle, and she had seduced her father with her good looks and charm. He had been a wizard, and had been particularly fond of dragons. He had taken her across the world with him, showing her a lot of the wizard world that my mother wouldn't have even known had existed if she hadn't become part of his life. They both died in a dragon-related accident, but I didn't blame my dad. He was working in the field he loved most, and it had cost him their lives.

I smiled at my aunt, closing the locket. I drew the chains around my neck, clasping the thing into place.

**.**

I ran a hand through my curly, dark hair; hair just like my mother's and aunt's. The two had been twins, after all, and I looked scarily like them. People often mistook me for being my aunt's daughter, and she had just given up trying to convince people that I was in fact not her daughter. When strangers commented how much we looked alike, she'd just nod and say "yes, I guess it runs in the family".

I was still looking for a seat, and the train had already left the station. They were either all packed, or housed people that I couldn't stand to sit the whole train ride with. I had gone at least three-fourths of the train, and still no seat. Well, that was the case until I was almost run over by the sweets trolley. I had to duck into a compartment to avoid getting completely flattened by the trolley; the lady who ran the thing was a sweet old thing, but sometimes she could be blind as a bat.

"Cedric looked at me!" A girl with super curly hair said.

"But he smiled at _me_!" said the girl sitting next to her, who shared the same hair. In fact, they looked exactly alike; they both had the same fair, freckled skin, dark blue eyes and super curly, frizzy dirty blonde hair that seemed to float with its own gravity.

"You two are acting like Viktor Krum just offered you an all expenses paid, romantic trip around the world on his broom," I said, taking a seat on the empty side of the compartment, setting down the cage with her owl in it as she did. The two girls turned and looked at her. "What?" She held up her hands, acting like she was trying to apologize to someone she had just insulted. "They both play Quidditch. Same difference, right? Well, except that Krum plays professional Quidditch, and Diggory plays for Hogwarts."

"Did you hear that Carrie, or am I just hearing things?" the one sitting towards the door to the compartment said.

"No, Kelly, I don't think you're hearing things. I think I heard someone dissing on Cedric," Carrie replied.

"Hey, I'm not dissing the guy. I'm just saying that Krum plays professionally. Calm it down, will you. You two only watch the sport because of Cedric. In fact, I think you only go to matches that Hufflepuff has, and not because Carrie's in that house."

"Hey, _you_ play Quidditch, too, and we go to your matches." Carrie sighed. "It's not fair, you get to see Cedric all the time because you play the sport."

"Carrie, you're a _Hufflepuff_. If anything, you should see him more than I do." Carrie perked up from her sigh and giggled at my response, and Kelly joined in. I just sighed, shaking my head at my friends. "You two are a waste of space. We go to Hogwarts to learn, not obsess about boys, which you two are clearly majoring in."

"Says the Ravenclaw who has boys wrapped around her finger," Kelly jeered back.

"Oh _totally_, because that is a real thing that is totally happening. Please, don't make me laugh. If anything, you two are too obsessed to notice that Cedric isn't the only boy that goes to Hogwarts." Okay, if a lot of boys liked me, I think I would notice. Okay, maybe not. School was normally my main focus, unlike Kelly and Carrie. Well, most of the time. Actually, it was more like Quidditch instead. Okay, definitely not the academics part of school.

"Yes you do!" Carrie replied. "You've pretty wavy hair, unlike our crap hair. That's gotta be a good attribute to have."

Just as I was about to reply, the food trolley rolled back by, and a plan came to my mind. I turned to the twins that were seated across from me, ready to strike a bargain.

"If I buy you both chocolate frogs, will you shut up?" I admit it was a crappy bargain, but they'd do anything for sweets. They both looked to each other, putting a hand on their respective chins and making the same face.

"Throw in some sugar quills, and you've got yourself a deal."


	2. Flynn the Never-Ending Food Pit

The Great Hall cheered as the last first years had taken their seats, the feast of food beginning as soon as they were seated, like clockwork every year. Plates of mashed potatoes and chicken, piles of fruit and pastries, along with a gravy boat dotted here and there were spread along the four long tables. Flynn, my friend since we were first years and housemate, was filling his plate with all the food in the immediate area of him. He might have been kinda scrawny, but man, he could eat. His plate was piled so haphazardly that by the time he had set it down to begin eating, chicken coated in gravy and mashed potatoes started to slide off his plate. He reached out for the piece of chicken trying to escape, and put it where it couldn't leave his sights; his mouth. I looked at the lightly freckled boy with a look that was somewhat disgust and somewhat amazement. Sometimes I was surprised by his ability to eat as much food as he did and how he managed to get almost nothing on his face while he was eating.

"Got enough food there?" I said, elbowing him in the ribs. My own plate was filled with pastries, mashed potatoes and chicken (well, mostly pastries; they were my favourite) – but it held way less food than Flynn's did, and all of the food was organised, not all mashed together like his. Well, if you could describe a plate with food on it "organised". He turned to look at me, a sassy expression on his face, which was quite humorous since he was still chewing some food. After he had swallowed what he had in his mouth, he put his hands on his hips, increasing his sass levels.

"Actually, no," he said, trying to sound serious. As serious as a cat riding a unicycle; he was really bad at trying to be serious. He then proceeded to grab more food and piling it onto his plate, not breaking eye contact with me, as if to show me that he was in fact completely serious. But his plan failed after he tried to land a scoop of mashed potatoes on his plate, which ended up in his lap instead. A grin spread across my face and and soon spread to his, and then we burst out in laughter. Sometimes I felt like Flynn would've done better in Gryffindor house instead of Ravenclaw, but he did have a knack for inventing things. If he had been sorted differently, he would be able to see the love of his life (Kelly Carraway, aka "oh my Merlin she's so cute I just can't like how do I even talk to her Jordan you have to help me because you're her best friend you've got to know something that she likes I juST NEED SOME ADVICE OR SOMETHING"). But hey, no use arguing with the Sorting Hat after six years.

As our laughter died down, he returned to his plate and I restarted our conversation.

"So..." I started, putting a forkful of mashed potatoes and gravy into my mouth. "Kelly and Carrie were hopeless romantics on the train this morning." I tried to sound as innocent about it as possible about it, but I knew that Flynn would hope they had been talking about him. Well, at least Kelly anyways. He had hesitating putting his forkful of food into his mouth ever so slightly. "Much to my - and yours, for that matter - they were talking about Cedric. I personally tried to bring them off the topic, but they wouldn't shut up. I had to buy them sugar quills to get them to shut up."

Flynn looked as if I had dropped a suitcase full of bricks on him, but he still continued to eat with the same enthusiasm as before. His emotions never got in the way of food, even if sometime had told him his grandmother had died (which she had in fact done, two summers ago. He cried into two cherry pies and half a turkey). I felt sorry for him, but that's what really happened; if I could change what did happen, I would've. You can like someone so much and never have the nerve to talk to them, so they would never know how you feel about them, and that's exactly what Flynn's problem was. I actually tried to get him to talk to Kelly at least three times, walking down the hallway and "accidentally" pushing him towards her. But alas, I had never succeeded in my attempts. Maybe I could make this year _the _year that he actually talks to her? Maybe. I'd put it on this years to-do list. But there was a little bit of a problem when it came to that: I'd never been in love, or fallen for anyone, in fact. I don't think I'd fallen for someone over the summer. If I were to have a crush on absolutely anyone, it probably would've been Harry Potter, but he seemed too wrapped up in saving the world and defeating He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named every year to be bothered with a relationship. That seemed to be like a pattern, a weird, terribly absurd pattern. It's absolutely ridiculous. You think after five years he would've already killed him.

I coughed slightly, clearing my throat and preparing to say something that would lift his spirits just a little, at the least. "The only problem about the two of them fancying Cedric is, who will they cheer for when Ravenclaw plays Hufflepuff. Me or Cedric? I mean, I gotta be honest here. Would they choose the guy they've been pining over for less than a day of me, they're best friend." I eyed Flynn, and that seemed to lighten his mood ever so slightly. "C'mon, give me some input here. Diggory and I are both seekers, so that's going to be tough. They're going to have to pick sides. But you've got to add house pride to the mix, so they might go with Diggory. If they do, I'll be deeply offended."

I played with the food on my plate, suddenly becoming full. I excused myself, leaving the feast early, and head straight up to the Owlery to send my aunt a letter. I wouldn't wait to tag along with my housemates, I could figure out the knocker's riddle by myself. I found him easily, resting on the perch he usually took, and fought other owls to hold. He would be happy to fly so home so early, considering my aunt always gave him a treat whenever he was around, and she spoiled the owl rotten with them. I gave him the letter I had written on the train, with quick scribbles I had just recently put at the bottom, sending him out back towards London.

**.**

I shoved my hands in my robe pockets as I walked down from the Owlery and to the Ravenclaw common room. It was a long walk, but a peaceful one. Everyone else had begun to filter out of the Great Hall, prefects leading their first years to their respective common rooms.

I entered into my own common room, answering the knocker's question with ease. I guess I had spent more time in the Owlery than I had thought, because the room was flooded with people. A lot of our first years were in the small library, probably not expecting the room to hold anything other than couches and a fireplace. Luna, spotting me enter, skirted her way to me from across the room. We hugged and shared a few stories from over the summer before she drifted back into the crowd, chatting happily with the others. I quickly made my way to the girls' dormitories, assuming that Flynn had began his yearly food coma and was currently sleeping in his bed. I tucked the thought of mentioning to Kelly that someone liked her into the back of my mind. I'd tell her tomorrow, pretending that I had heard it through a "reliable source" (who was totally not me) and that the boy was in Ravenclaw. I might even lead Kelly and Carrie on a wild goose chase to find this so-called secret admirer, all while having Flynn play along with the whole thing. Maybe get him to write little notes, and have me hand them off to the girl of his dreams? Eh, who knows.

I changed into my pyjamas and plopped down onto my bed, closing the deep blue drapes that hung around it, cuddling up into my pillows. I sat there with my arms around my pillows for a while before I pulled the locket out from under my shirt. I ran my thumb over the decorative designs carved into the front and back of the oval-shaped locket before unclasping its chain, pulling it off my neck and holding it out in front of me. I opened it gently and watched the pictures my aunt had pit into the two slots move, the picture of my parents holding hands and smiling back at me, clearly at their happiest. It's not like they had died at the hands of death eaters, but it surely had felt that way. They were so young too, barely older than 25 when the photograph had been taken. I hadn't even been born yet.

I closed it and held it in my hands, holding it close to my chest. A small smile, barely visible, made its way onto my face. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and snuggling against my bed to get comfortable. I pulled the covers up and over my head, holding the gift from my aunt tightly in my hand.

This year was going to be my best year, or at least I hoped it would be.**  
**


	3. Noses Are Certainly Meant for Breaking

So far my "best year" had started out with punching Draco in the face and ending up with a week's worth of detention. It was all worth it, even if I had gotten into a buttload of trouble. He had been taunting me about having a muggle for a mother, saying that she was 'unclean' and 'vermin'. He probably thought that my aunt was my mother, considering that they were twins, and the story of what had happened to my parents hadn't really gotten around due to having happened on non-England soil. Only my family and friends, plus a few addition people knew they were dead. The rest of the wizarding world believed they were alive. For the past couple of years, the taunting hadn't gotten to me. I had turned into that special little half-blood that he'd tease, which was out of sorts since he usually went for muggle-borns. I had just taken to ignoring him and brushing what he said off, usually having Kelly or Carrie near me to keep me from storming over to him and doing something I'd regret later on. But this time, I just snapped. Nothing could stop me, not even the twins if they had been there. I set down my books calmly, pushing up my sleeves as I walked a few feet to stand directly in front of the blond-haired prick.

Draco had turned his head looking back - laughing while doing so, I might add - at Crabbe and Goyle to make sure they were going along with it, throwing various insults my way as well. A lot of them were terrible, hardly even insults. But Draco acted as if they were of superb quality, pretending they were as clever as his. When he had turned his head back to face me, I took a quick step forward hit him hard in the face with my fist. He had stumbled backwards, crashing into his goonies. Then onto the floor he went, causing a domino affect in the people behind him. At least five people were now on the ground, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Draco held his nose and practically whimpered, but he was trying to keep on his tough-guy facade for the growing crowd around him. A few dribbles of blood leaked through his fingers and onto his shirt and tie, staining them in spots of red. You couldn't tell because his hand was in the way, but his nose was bent in an odd angle. I hadn't noticed, but I had split some skin on my knuckles, small droplets of bright red forming across the cuts. I wiped the red onto my skirt and took another step forward, leaning down towards Draco. There was a half second of thought in my mind before I grabbed his tie, pulling his head up to meet mine, staring him dead in the eye (and probably choking him, which wasn't a bad thing). I hadn't noticed that my locket had slipped out from under my tie, waving back and forth below me – I was too distracted at the moment. A clever retort that would embarrass him was the only thing on my mind at the moment.

"Now what about my mother?" I practically growled. Draco shuffled under me - no, flailed would be a better word - his feet, trying to back away from me, which wasn't so successful with a sea of people behind him and the fact that I had an iron grip on his tie. Obviously he wasn't that good at defending himself after he had been injured, the Hermione incident being a prime example.

"N-nothing," Draco stammered, rage seething beneath his grey eyes. I could tell he was going to get revenge, even if he was acting as defenseless as a puppy at the moment. He was not one to take insults lightly, or a broken nose either. I'd have to be prepared, and I planned on looking up some good defense spells in the library after dinner. I would not walk straight into a fight defenceless.

I let go of his tie and straightened myself, standing up proper, the locket now resting itself against my chest.

"You're lucky you didn't say anything about my dad – you'd have way more than a broken nose." I let out an impatient huff and turned swiftly on my heel, an air of pride washing over me. I don't know why, but having Draco on the floor with a broken nose because of me made me feel good.

**.**

When I told my friends the story of what had happened, Carrie gaped and Kelly grinned wildly. Completely different reactions, both expected from a student from their respective houses. The rumour that I had broken Draco's nose had been floating around the castle all afternoon, and no one was sure if they were true or not. I was really the only reliable source, since Draco wouldn't be likely to tell people I had actually done anything to him.

"Did you really…?" Carrie asked, a look of horror on her face.

"Yeah," I said coolly, scratching the back of my head. It was really out of character for a Ravenclaw to go right ahead and take the chance and punch a Slytherin. We usually took the tactical route, planning elaborate traps that required no physical exertion or possible physical pain whatsoever. Hand-to-hand combat was the last resort, but I saw the opening and took it, which had served me well.

Kelly's face had an expression of pure joy on it. "I can't believe that you punched Malfoy!" she said excitedly. She was practically bouncing in her seat, like she was going to explode if she were to sit still. "I thought it was just a rumour, but you actually punched him! Are you sure that was really you, or just some Gryffindor?"

"Well," I said, leaning back in my chair. "If you don't believe me, go ask him yourself. I bet he'll _love _to tell you that he got beat up by a Ravenclaw, a girl nonetheless." A smirk was on my face, and I was completely 100% positive that my story of punching Malfoy would be all the talk at dinner. He'd probably try and say he slipped, or something that would cover up what really happened.

Carrie stood up, pulling Kelly with her by the elbow and clearing her throat. "We all better get going to dinner now."

"Yeah," Kelly added as she was being dragged away by her sister, her voice increasing in volume as she was being pulled farther and farther away. "And hear all oF THE LAME GOSSIP ABOUT YOU AND MALFOY."

**.**

As I had predicted, that was the majority of the chatter that float around the Great Hall. When I walked up to my house's table, I was greeted both with angry gazes and triumphant smiles. Apparently some of the students actually _liked _Malfoy, which was shocking. I sat down and Flynn quickly turned to face me, fists on his hips, his expression unreadable.

"Jordan Juno Grace," he said, each word drawn out. I stared at him for a few seconds, waiting for him to give some explanation on why he had used my full name to address me. He slowly raised his arms up and held them arms out for a moment before he wrapped them around me. "You precious little ball of fury, breaking Draco Malfoy's nose," he said, talking like he would to a little kid that had just done something well for the first time. I could tell he was giving a grin as bright as a sunbeam, even though my head was pressed tightly against his shoulder in a bear hug. After a short while he let me go, and we commenced with dinner.

"So I did break his nose?" I asked, my eyebrows raised in innocent questioning, even though my deed had been somewhat dastardly. "I wasn't sure when I punched him, and he held his nose after I did, so I couldn't tell. I was hoping I did, though." I was grinning now, and shoving a forkful of Shepherd's pie into my mouth that I nearly choked on when Flynn slapped his hand on my back.

"Yeah, you broke his nose." Flynn was beaming, as if he was the one that had punched Draco and was in doing so opening doorways full of sunlight and all of the treasures of the food trolley that strolled through the Hogwarts Express. "You really broke his nose."

**.**

I strolled out of the Great Hall, waving goodbye to Kelly and Carrie as I departed from them to head to head to the library. I planned to make a quick stop in there, intending to check out a book that contained a few advanced attack and defence spells. Another fight between Draco and I was bound to happen eventually, and it may happen sooner than I would probably expect. Better be prepared.

As I walked, I let my mind wander a bit. How would I tell my aunt that I broke a kid's nose and got detention for it? At least the school year hadn't completely started so we weren't that far behind the other house for the House Cup. I know I wouldn't have to worry about getting a Howler if I just somehow managed to tell her, because my aunt really didn't have the faintest idea of how a Howler worked. The school might probably send something to my aunt anyway, informing her about the little incident that had occurred. And in return I would get a huge letter that was the muggle equivalent of a Howler.

My thoughts were cut short when an arm appeared before me, blocking my path, to which I stopped somewhat abruptly. I hadn't even noticed, but I'd been hugging (not literally, metaphorically) the wall the whole time I had been walking. It was a little subconscious thing that I did; I did not want to run into people while I was thinking deeply and walking at the same time, so I stayed close to the wall so people would just walk around me and I wouldn't run into them. My eyes made their way up the arm that had spontaneously appeared before me and to the shoulder that it was connected to. I grimaced at the sheer sight of the shoulder, not even having to look up to see who it was — Draco Malfoy. He was a few inches taller than me, enough so if I stood on my tip-toes, we would be the same height; he used his little amount of height to intimidate people shorter than him. Sadly, it didn't work that well on me. I tilted my head up slightly to see him staring down at me.

"What do you want Malfoy?" I asked, my eyes narrowing into a glare, a frown forming on my face. "Come back for another broken nose?"

Malfoy looked me over, as if he was sizing me up for some unknown task. Probably a fist fight? Maybe. I'd have my share of fist fights in primary school, which was more likely than not frowned upon. By the looks of him, he'd only been in three, at the max. But he had more training in duelling, which left me with the underhand. I was quick to learn, but since both of his parents had been wizards _and_ they were both still alive, I'd probably lose against him in a duelling match.

"Nothing of the sort," he muttered, but it was loud enough for me to hear. A smirk was forming on the corner of his mouth, and I did not get the best feeling from that little almost-smirk.

"Then leave me alone." I shoved his arm out of my way roughly, taking a step forward. His hand closed around my wrist as soon as I had gotten his arm out of the way, and he twisted it behind my back. I leaned forward, the only thing you could really do when someone was pulling your arm behind your back. And just now it crossed my mind that it was a shit idea to use my wand hand to push his arm out of the way; I couldn't really cast any spells right now, lest they backfire since I would have to use my left hand. He pulled my arm back a little farther, but in a jerky motion, causing a sharp gasp to leave my mouth. I clenched my teeth, a feeling of pain coming from my shoulder. Maybe was a time to try out some wandless magic? I know that it's incredibly hard, even for an advanced wizard or witch, but it was worth a shot now. And it was just my luck that the only spell that came to mind was "rictusempra", which caused the person to feel a tickling sensation all over. But hey, it was better than nothing. "Rictusemp-" was all I managed to get out before he clamped his free hand over my mouth. I would've bitten him so he'd get his hand off of my mouth if I could've, but that was practically impossible at the moment, considering his fingers were keeping my lips closed. I tried to get free of him, trying to wriggle out of his grip, flailing my left arm uselessly. I jerked my head back at one point, trying to headbutt him, but his head was just a little bit too far away from mine to hit his. I was beginning to give up hope, but that made me want to fight harder, if that was even possible. I went to my knees, standing becoming a little strenuous. I had given up trying to somehow magically wriggle my way out of his grip.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Draco whispered into my ear, his lips so close I could feel them. That caused me to shudder in revulsion. "No one can hear you, and no one can help you." I could hear an edge in his voice and feel the smirk on his face without even seeing it. Of course, I couldn't very well reply with something clever. _Well, yeah, someone can help me and probably heard weird shuffling, but you're just a giant twat,_ was what I really wanted to say in response. As he talked, he slowly but surely pulled my arm back, causing more and more pain to come from it. It felt like it was going to pop out of its socket, which I really wasn't looking forward to happening. I didn't want to have to pop it back into place. The pain in my shoulder was now reaching a point were it was starting to becoming nearly unbearable. Why didn't he just break my nose or hand or something, that would've hurt way less than what he was doing try, _practically trying to rip my arm off._ I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I tried to blink them back._ Never show pain or weakness_, my dad had said, _don't let them know you've been defeated_. Of course, he was talking about dragons, but the same applied to humans. I couldn't help it any longer, and the tears had reached the brim and spilled over. They traced down my face, briefly passing over Draco's hand. His grip slackened slightly before tightening up again. He was probably glad he couldn't see my face, the pain he was causing me. Something tells me that he hadn't really meant to have me be in so much pain and make me cry, just to taunt me and make me pay for breaking his nose in front of a bunch of people.

Suddenly, the sharp pain in my shoulder stopped. The hand around my wrist was no longer there, and neither was the hand covering my mouth. There was a dull throbbing pain in my shoulder, but I tried to ignore it and focus on my surroundings. I could hear footfalls moving away from me. I put my hand to my shoulder, rubbing it as I sat back on my legs. I wiped my face with my free sleeve and sat there for a little bit, trying to compose myself. I couldn't go back to the Ravenclaw commons a sobbing, red-faced mess.


	4. Sucking Face in the Corridors

The days after the incident blurred together, and I did in fact receive a strongly-worded letter from my aunt. Hugo hooted at me impatiently as I scribbled down a quick reply. I'd tell her what happened after dinner some days ago, and make her swear not to tell anyone, not even the school. I could handle it on my own - I was a tough girl, and I didn't need anyone's help- and I would try to keep it that way. I wasn't going to tell Carrie and Kelly about what had happened – I sure as hell wasn't going to tell Flynn. He'd go fists a-flying towards Malfoy and surely get himself hexed.

**. . . . .**

Try-outs for Quidditch quickly approached and I tried out as a seeker. Let's just say I'm still on Ravenclaw's Quidditch team.

I went to the first Quidditch match of the year, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, as always. Of course, I was rooting for Gryffindor, right along with Luna, Cho, Flynn and pretty much the whole student body of Hogwarts. It seemed that the only people who were cheering for Slytherin was Slytherin house, and a few people here and there that dotted the other houses.

The game was relatively quick, no more than fourty-five minutes long. Probably even less than a half an hour. The expected outcome happened; Gryffindor won by a catching of the Snitch. Gryffindor had already been in the lead, so they could've just played until Slytherin caught the snitch. Goddammit Harry Potter, you show off.

**. . . . .**

"What are you going to do now, Grace?" Draco asked, clearly enjoying himself. He had me pressed up against a wall, his hands wrapped around my wrists and holding them above my head. Magic was not an option, but headbutting was; alas he was a little too far away. _He was always too far away_. You think after the first encounter, I would've stashed my wand somewhere I could easily reach it. But no, I kept it in my cloak pocket like a knob. Brute force was really my only option; I could kick him, but that could only make the situation worse. So that was a no-go.

"I said piss off," I said sharply, turning my head to look down the corridor. He had ambushed me in a particularly secluded hallway, and I was starting to think that he had picked the specifically for this instance. It seemed like he had planned the whole thing before-hand. Probably did, the prick.

"Hmm," he hummed out, like he was contemplating whether he would let me go and leave or keep me pinned against the wall. "Not likely…unless there's something in it for me…" His eyes glinted devilishly. He pulled one of my wrists into his other hand, holding them tightly together. Pinching was now a thing I was considering doing. With his free hand he tugged the chain hidden under my tie out, pulling the locket out from its hiding place. I wanted to thrash about and scream at him, telling him to let me go and that I wouldn't give him my locket if my life depended on it and to leave me alone. It was too precious a thing to just hand off to a bully, _especially_ Malfoy. I'd had enough of his revenge already, but I doubted he was going to stop so easily if I did just so happen to give him the locket. I just swallowed my anger and took a shaky breath, much to Draco's amusement.

"You will never get my locket – _ever_." My eyes were full of anger as I glared up at him, though he just stared past them, still playing with the locket chain in his fingers for a moment before dropping it.

"A bit hot-headed, are we?" He chuckled slightly, which caused a shiver to run down my spine. "Then we'll need something of something of equal or greater value to exchange it with…" The devilish glint returned, but with a deeper, more sinister look. His eyes flicked up to my face, then to my lips. He then straightened himself up, lifting his chin slightly, in what one could call a princely manner, although the devilish glint threw it off slightly, so he just looked arrogant. "A kiss."

"There is no way in hell that _I _am going to kiss _you._"

"Then it'll be the other way around," he whispered, placing his free hand on my chin and leaning in with a smirk on his face.

"No, I do _not_ agree to this, and never will!" I squirmed under his grip, trying to get free. I tried to get my arms free, but it was no use. I just thrashed about, hoping with all my luck that she would somehow get myself lose from his grip so I could flee. "I'll tell the Headmaster, and you won't get away with this, just you wait unti–"

Draco's lips pressed against mine roughly. At first, I was frozen with shock, my eyes wide. My heart was beating rapidly, and I feared that a stray person walking by could hear it, even though that was unlikely; I was more worried about Draco hearing it. My eyes gently slid closed, but I tried to fight it. It was hopeless. Everything was hopeless. I loosened up a bit, finally calming down and becoming less rigid. I wouldn't admit it, though – I'd claim the loosening up as a reflex, but I knew in the back of my mind I was doing it out of my own free will – but I started kissing him back. There was no way I could deny that, if anyone happened to be watching. They would literally see me kissing him back. Good thing no one was watching. I silently cursed myself for not having any chapstick, because the any weather that wasn't comfortably warm often made my lips chapped. Why that came up in my mind? No idea.

The rough press of his lips against mine had softened, replying to the delicate kisses I was giving him. His body had moved closer to mine, pinning my torso against the wall. I was fine with that. His hand holding my wrists loosened and let go of them, drifting down to my head, his fingers tangling themselves in the loose curls of my dark brown hair. I was okay with that too. My arms moved gently downward, resting on his chest, my fingers pulling at the corners of the collar on his white dress shirt. I couldn't really be sure if I was holding them or not because I couldn't feel all the up to my elbows at the moment, the blood having drained out of them while they were pinned against the wall above my head. I was going to start mentally cursing, I could see it now, because my arms were beginning to get that painful tingling sensation.

Draco finally pulled his head back for a breath, sucking in air. "That…was…" He said, the corner of his mouth tucked up in a little smirk. His was chest rising and falling against my own, still trying to desperately regain lost oxygen. It's like when people kissed they somehow forgot to breathe out of their noses or something. I must confess, I am a victim of forgetting how to breathe when kissing, full out snogging especially. Just as he was about to finish his sentence, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye, and I turned my head in the direction of what I had seen before he could utter his last word.

Kelly and Ella - Kelly's friend from Gryffindor house - stood there, their mouths agape. If they had been carrying any books with them, I was sure they would've dropped them all. At least that would've given me some warning other than just spotting them from the corner of my eye. It would've been better for both of us, actually, if they had. We could've untangled ourselves from each other and created a quick cover on the spot. Well, more of Draco pulling his fingers out of my hair and getting off of me. But sadly, that was not the case; and they'd probably seen everything. Great. _Fantastic_.

My face flushed pink and I quickly yelled, "It's not what it looks like!"

The two girls scampered off, probably to go and spread the rumour around about how they had seen me kissing the guy whose nose I had broken no more than a week before. _Great. Totally what I needed_. I turned back to Draco, who was just smirking in delight. He was enjoying this a little _too _much.

"Oh, it's exactly what it looks like," he uttered, his fingers still playing with my hair. The hand that had been on my chin had made its way to my hair, too, twirling strands of my curly locks in with his slender fingers. I frowned at him, extracting my own fingers from his shirt collar. I put one of my hands on his chest and pushed him away from my, taking a step away from him. I tucked my locket back under my tie and shoved my hands into my cloak pockets, my right hand closing tightly around my wand. I turned swiftly on my heel, pointing it at Malfoy, who had taken a step towards me.

"Do not touch me again, or I swear to Merlin…" I practically growled, the expression of anger on my face. If he tried anything again, I was going to strangle him.

"You wouldn't do that to you're boyfriend, would you?" He was grinning. I wanted so badly to slap him, but that wasn't the best choice at the moment. I'd save the action for later.

"You are _**not**_ my boyfriend." I let out a frustrated sigh and turned on my heel again, this time running towards the direction Kelly and Ella had gone. I couldn't hear footsteps behind me as I began in a dead-out sprint, which was a good sign. At least I hoped it was. Hopefully he'd leave me alone.

**.**

"How much did you see?" I asked the girls weakly. _Hopefully not a whole lot_, I though. I was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, looking at the floor, my head resting in my hands. I couldn't look at the girls, especially if they thought something was up between me and Draco. My face'd only get red and I'd start stammering, and they'd take it as me being flustered and totally "in love", when in actuality, I tended to do the previously mentioned acts when I'm embarrassed.

"Oh, just you _snogging_ with Draco," Ella interjected, saying the words as if they disgusted her. She apparently had a dislike for the boy, a dislike that I tried to convince myself that I had too.

"I didn't–" I tried to say, lifting my head off my hands to look at the girls before me. I just sighed and threw my head back down.

"Oh, so you _weren't_ snogging with Draco? Then what exactly were you doing?" Ella interjected again, and I was getting real tired of it. I couldn't fathom a single reason to how Kelly put up with the girl. She was incredibly snarky, borderline completely annoying. "Giving him spontaneous mouth-to-mouth, huh?" Kelly hushed the girl, which I was completely thankful for.

"What happened?" Kelly asked, her eyes half full of concern and half full of humour. "You know, that ending up in you snogging Draco?" She looked as if she was trying to suppress a laugh. "Trip and fall into his face, maybe?"

I took a deep breath before pulling my head back out of my hands, and began spinning the tale about what had happened after dinner a few nights back; how Draco had surprised my and held me there in pain for Merlin knows how long. It was probably only seconds, maybe a few minutes, but it felt like hours. I had even taken off my sweater and pulled down my dress shirt - which produced a cat-call whistle from Kelly - to show them my shoulder, which now was home to a huge blue, purple and green bruise that spread around the area of the joint. The sight of it had raised a gasp from of the two. I hadn't even thought about going to the infirmary for it, mostly because I didn't want to raise any questions about what had possibly happened to my shoulder; if I had, I'd probably jut say "Quidditch accident". I then told them what just happened, how he was probably going to be doing it a few more times for revenge on his broken nose. But I didn't tell the pair I hadn't exactly _not_ enjoyed the kiss I had received – and I wasn't going to tell Draco that, either, under any circumstances.


	5. Divination Does Wonders

Weeks went by with no more 'revenge' from Draco. I was grateful of that, and was hoping he wouldn't try anything else. He was unpredictable at the moment, and I had no idea what he was going to throw at me next, if he decided to continue with the mini tortures.

I made Kelly and Ella swear on their lives that if they told anyone about what had happened, they would both wake up in the lake, stark naked. But I couldn't completely trust Ella because I didn't know her too well. At all, really. And with what I had seen about her personality whilst I was explaining what had happened and the clear dislike she had for Draco. That wouldn't help my little problem. What would people think? I had broken his nose, and now they were in a relationship? The school gossipers would eat that up, probably make fan clubs of some sort. Okay, we weren't dating or in a relationship or whatever, but he obviously wanted to be in one, or he was just simply playing with my feelings. Probably both.

I wasn't sure whether if I did have feelings for Draco not. The whole 'I want to severely injure you because you broke my nose and dishonoured my family's name with your half-bloodness' scenario and then 'how about we make out while I press you against the wall because I want to play with your feelings and junk' scene gave me some pretty mixed signals.

Other than that thought on my mind, I was excited for later today; it was the second Quidditch match of the year. Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw, to be precise. I'd be going head-to-head with Cedric; Carrie and Kelly would probably make a banner for the two of us that would periodically change between 'Go Cedric!' and 'Go Jordan!' with respective house colours, specifically made for the occasion of this match. I would have a slight advantage over Cedric in the seeking position, my height being smaller than his, as well as being a tad bit lighter weight-wise. But he was quick, and had a year of Quidditch playing on me; it was a physical advantage against experience. I'd have to try my hardest this match, and hope I wasn't too rusty.

Unlike a lot of the other witches and wizards that went to Hogwarts, I lived in the muggle inhabited area of London with my Aunt Mayra. I couldn't really practice on my broom without a plethora of muggles seeing me flying around in my backyard with a foot ball, unless I wanted to be turned into the Ministry of Magic and not allowed to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy any longer for exposing magic to muggles.

**. . . . .**

Luna and I walked together up the Divination Tower. We both had a free block that period; I had decided to drop Arithmancy even though the school year had just started. I wasn't particularly good with numbers, and trying to find patterns in them was practically impossible for me. Even maths in primary school had been difficult.

I liked the class that the tower we were climbing up was named for, in particular, and the professor that taught the class: Professor Trelawney. She occasionally invited Luna and I to tea in her classroom during her free time, which we both would accept, even if we had something else to do. Trelawney would read our tea leaves for us after they had light conversation, which I didn't often partake in due to Luna's immense love for the mysticism of Divination and the magical creatures associated with the topic, and I downed my tea as fast as I possibly could without scalding myself (in the most dignified way possible) so the professor could read the leaves left in the bottom of my teacup.

"Now dears, swish it around a bit, clockwise with you left hand over the top. We wouldn't want your leaves to slosh everywhere," Professor Trelawney said with a light smile. Luna and I swished our cups as instructed, before setting them down onto the table before them. Trelawney picked up Luna's cup first, turning the cup this way and that to find images in the scatter of leaves in the bottom. "I see…" she muttered, adjusting her thick glasses. " A spider….a hand….and a mushroom." She adjusted her glasses again, now looking up at Luna. "You will see reward for your work, and a friend will require your assistance, and a future disturbance will be occurring. All are in a straight line, telling me that they will all be definitely occurring, but it unclear to when they will be occurring."

Luna nodded with the usual dreamy look that hung on her face, as if confirming that is what she saw. I never happened to check my leaves before handing my cup to the professor to read because I wasn't too keen on seeing things in the tea leaves; it always looked like gobbildy-gook until Trelawney specified the shapes, letters and numbers. The professor set down the cup she was holding, placing it back into its designated saucer before smiling at me and picking up my teacup. She adjusted her glasses again, peering down into the cup.

"A sword," she muttered once again. "Followed by the letter 'D' and a harp." She glanced up at me, giving a slight wink, causing me to flush slightly. I knew exactly what the symbols meant, and had a clear thought about what it was saying. A sword meant warning of future arguments, the letter 'D' was the indication of someone with that letter at the start of their name, and the harp meant romance. The only person's name she knew (somewhat personally) was Draco. So I was going to have arguments with someone (probably Draco, if the revenge pattern decided to continue once again), and then a romance with him. _Hurrah_, I thought sarcastically to myself. I assumed with the wink that Trelawney had given me meant she knew something of what the fortune held. "Oh, and a forked line…" She adjusted her glasses for the last time before placing down the teacup in the saucer. "There is a warning of a future argument, possibly with someone whose name starts with the letter 'D', and a romance with that person, possibly. Maybe a different person whose name starts with 'D', we just don't know that. It's all in a straight line, placed above a coming decision." She gave a knowing smile and nodded, sitting back in her chair, the signal that we could leave if we so desired to do so.

"Luna, you can stay if want. I just remembered I have some Transfiguration homework I still have to do," I said, pushing back my chair and standing up. I waved at the pair who were still sitting at the table, both had engaged in an in-depth conversation about nargles and the possible relation between them predicting the future by stealing shoes in a particular pattern. All nonsense to me. I lifted up the trapdoor, clambering down the stairs.

**. . . . .**

I walked out onto the Quidditch Pitch with the rest of my team, taking up the spot next to our team captain. The Hufflepuff team followed suit behind up, before taking the spot opposite us. The captains shook hands and Madame Hooch announced, "Mount your brooms!"

I slid my goggles down from my forehead, placing them over my eyes and mounted her Nimbus 2001, pushing off the ground.

The match begun, the quaffle starting in Hufflepuff hands before being intercepted by a Ravenclaw passerby. The red ball was tossed back and forth, Ravenclaw scoring one, two, almost three before it was caught by Hufflepuff's keeper. After that, it was swat out of Hufflepuff hands, missing the Ravenclaw chaser it was aimed for, and put back into Hufflepuff hands. They managed to score one, and were now trying for their second. The Ravenclaw keeper was now swaying a bit, hovering so she could easily dart to the goal posts on her left and right, ready to fend off an incoming quaffle. Cedric and I both kept their eyes peeled for the Snitch, watching for the small golden ball to be released onto the field. It wasn't usually released this late in the game, but hey, when the Snitch was out, the Snitch was out. I was almost nailed in the head by a Bludger during the process of waiting for the tiny golden ball. I wasn't even particularly close to the game; I was hovering above everyone else, looking down for the Snitch. It was easier to catch it flash when it hit sunlight from up here. I had ducked when the dense black ball came flying for me, lying flat on my broom, missing the solid iron sphere by only a few inches. I rose a bit higher so I was even higher above the other players, watching for the golden flash below.

Cedric had caught the tiny flash of light before me, diving for the ground in an attempt to catch the newly-released Snitch. It was a bit too quick for him, flitting across his open palm just as he reached for it. I took to a nosedive, narrowly avoiding the other players and a bat of one of Hufflepuff's beaters. As I approached the ground I spun on my broom, levelling myself out and shooting off after Cedric and the small golden prize, the burst of sudden wind I had created spitting dirt up into the air. I hovered around Cedric, slightly behind him, and desperately trying to get close. The Snitch took a sudden drop, which I was able to follow, giving me the lead.

I was following the golden ball, darting precariously through the gaggles of players. I leaned as far forward as I could, trying to at least touch the tiny, matching-winning ball. If I got it in my fingertips, I'd surely be able to capture it. All other noises except the wind were drowned out in my complete focus; I was so close, it would be a crime if I didn't catch it. I pushed myself forward, my broom leaving my grasp as I did. It would soon be shards on the ground if it was uncaught, pile driving directly into the ground, but that thought wasn't even crossing my mind. I was dead set on catching the Snitch, I _would _catch the Snitch. I didn't come to play (well, yeah I did come to play but I'm trying to make a point here), I came to win.

My fingers were outstretched to capture the golden ball, my fingertips within touching range. Now if only I could make it mine.


End file.
